The surveillance video was taken from a residence in the Bennington Heights area, near Mount Pleasant Rd. and St. Clair Ave. E., about 20 minutes before police received the first fire call at 3:05 a.m.

The video shows the person of interest walking past a residence several times. The man is wearing dark clothing, a baseball cap and a dark knapsack. Police say he is holding what appears to be a bottle or a cup in one of his hands, and has a distinctive walk.

The man was moving “like someone with purpose, but dynamic and energetic with kind of a frenetic pace,” Detective Sgt. Daniel Sabadics said in a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

Fire spread to a house on Burnham Rd. after a number of cars on the street were set alight in the early morning hours last Friday. Police originally said that nine cars were sent on fire, but some of the fires weren’t reported until recently, increasing the total number of vehicle fires to 12.

Homeowner Doug Bryce safely escaped the torched residence with his family, including three children.

“It’s one thing to make cars explode but to deliberately set fire to a house with a family asleep inside, that’s another brand of evil,” Bryce told the Star.

It’s believed nothing more than paper, clothing and detritus were used to start the fires, not an accelerant, although damage was estimated between $50,000 to $100,000. Damage to the home could run between five and six figures, police said.

Detective Sgt. Sabadics says that all of the vehicles were unlocked at the time of the fire, as was the garage where the house fire was started.

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